AS Black as Night
by Cat 2
Summary: What if the Mysterons had returned them both? New Captain Scarlet, I own nothing
1. Chapter 1 The Red Planet

_words in italics from Instrument of Destruction Part 1. Copyright Gerry Anderson. GCS is Glasgow Coma Scale, is a __neurological__scale__ which aims to give a reliable, objective way of recording the conscious state of a person, for initial as well as continuing assessment. A patient is assessed against the criteria of the scale, and the resulting points give a patient score between 3 (indicating deep unconsciousness) and 15 (see Wikipedia or simlar for more details.I own nothing._

As Black as Night

The Red Planet.

"_This is like fishing in a desert."  
"Well something has to be sending those signals."  
"So we keep looking." Black's voice was resigned. As he nodded his head, the bison blurred out of view._

His head hurt.

His mouth felt like a desert.

The grey ceiling above his head spun and blurred in and out of focus, as did the voices he could hear in the distance.

Every muscle in his body ached.

He must have groaned, or made some sound, because there was a pressure against his lips, and cold water flowed down his throat.

That helped, it gave him something solid to focus on. He drank greedily.

"Easy. Easy." A voice said, from somewhere in the blurriness said. "You'll make yourself sick."

He blinked and the face slid into a focus. A woman's face, dark haired with hazel eyes gazed down at him. It was vaguely familiar, but the name escaped him.

"W...wher?"  
She interrupted him.

"Lie still. You got a concussion."

A concussion. Yes that would explain all his symptoms.

"Your friend is going to kill me." The woman continued, getting to her feet and walking over to a com panel on the wall. After she spoke rapidly and softly into it, she continued. "You've been out for nearly a week. Finally I persuade him to take a break, promising nothing would happen, and you regain conscience almost with in the hour."

She shook her head.

"Murphy's Law huh?"

"Yeah." It was weak, but appeared to satisfy her, as she nodded brightly.

There was a soft rustle as the curtains surrounding the bed parted, and the woman looked up.

"Dr Fawn. He's conscious and responsive."

Dr Fawn's face swam into view, and Scarlet recognised him. He was the medic on the Spectrum base on Mars, and was supposed to be White's choice if Gold ever retired. The woman was from the Mars base too. She was Nurse…Nurse…

He couldn't remember her name. He tried to force his attention back to what Dr Fawn was saying.

"Pulse still a little higher than I'd like, but pressure is almost back to normal."  
"He scores about 14 on the GCS."

"Confused?"  
"understandably." he nodded, and turned his attention back to his patient.  
"Captain Scarlet, do you know who I am?"  
He nodded slightly, stopping because it made his head hurt.

"Do you know where you are?"  
"Spectrum base. Mars." The dark haired man nodded.

"Excellent." He turned to the person standing behind him.

"As his condition seems stable, I have no objection to him departing with you on the next shuttle craft, providing Nurse Cherry accompanies you."  
"you're sure doc?" that voice, he tried to sit up to see if he was right, only to feel Nurse Cherry's hands restraining him.

"Quite. Nurse Cherry is extremely well trained, and Dr Gold will be more than capable in aiding his recovery."  
"If you're sure." There was slightly uncomfortable pause, before he spoke again. "Can I speak to him?"  
"Not for too long." Dr Fawn's voice was firm. "I don't want you tiring him."  
"I won't." the voice promised.

The curtain's rustled again, and a man walked in.

"Hey Paul." Said the soft voice of Conrad Lefton. And the world went black.

Sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

"Spectrum should be grateful." Observed Nurse Cherry, tying off the thread. "You've proved that Captain Scarlet is a formidable opponent, even when semi conscious."  
"Forgive me if I don't share your rather optimist view of this." Conrad observed tartly. Elizabeth Capulet forced herself to smile. She couldn't shake her dislike of this man, despite his oblivious concern for his friend.

They had both being found nearly a week ago, their wrecked bison serving as their shelter. Conrad had being conscious, but suffering from serve dehydration. The other occupant, Paul Metcalf, had being a different story. According to Conrad, they had hit a hidden ridge and the bison had over turned. This correlated with Paul's injuries of a cracked skull and stomach injury. He had also been severely dehydrated and in hypovolemia shock.

She peeled the gloves off and flung them in a mediwaste bin, saying as she did so.

"Keep the pad on for the next twenty four hours minimum. Ideally it should remain on until we reach earth, but I know you spectrum captains too well for that." She shrugged. "In terms of the bruising, I've got a cream to help."

"Thanks."

He looked so down cast, that she felt obliged to add,

"He'll be alright. At the moment he's suffering from Medical and emotional shock, which can make people behave oddly."

"Yeah." He shook his head. "Thanks." He left the infirmary.

Sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

"Does he have any explanation for what happened?" Dr Gold asked.

Dr Fawn shook his head, still staring at the screen.

"No. he doesn't even seem to remember what happened. He was surprised when the sedative wore off to find him restrained."  
"Hmm." Gold's Austrian accent reflected his own concerns. "The lack of memory could be a sign of something serious."

Dr Fawn shook his head.

"The test show nothing more than the concussion I had already alerted you to." He sighed. "Gut instinct tells me there's more to this than meets the eye." He glanced. "Nurse Cherry is due to join you on the next shuttle which leaves into days." He drew breath.  
"If you think it advisable to keep Captain Scarlet here, I will, but…"  
"With correct medical supervision," Gold interrupted. "There is no reason for him not to travel."

Dr Fawn nodded. Relieved.

TBC

Well? Love it? Hate it? Let me know. Also Alternative Universe, or Dream/Hallucination? You decide. Hit that purple button and let me know.


	2. Chapter 2 Sapphire Blue Sky

Nice reviews make me write quicker.

Sapphire Sky

Destiny Angel paced in across the Angel's lounge.

"Will you calm down?" Rhapsody asked. "Adam's said he'll tell us when they've finished."  
"When?" Destiny demanded.

"Soon. Look if you're that desperate go talk to Paul in sickbay."  
"I have." Destiny admitted sheepishly. "Dr. Gold is banning visitors."

Rhapsody groaned into a cushion.

* * *

"The last thing I remember is the probe. Twenty century Russian gone renegade. Then nothing. Nothing at all. I assume I passed out when the Bison went over. When I came to and looked round, Paul was slumped in his seat. Took me a minute or two to realise he hadn't been as lucky as me. I mean I was O.K and I could see he wasn't. I could see the blood on his forehead and he was unconscious." He swallowed hard. "I don't know how long it was till the Mars team found us, I'm just glad that they did."

Colonel White nodded. "You were both extra ordinarily lucky."  
"Yes sir." Conrad agreed. "Doctor Fawn concluded I was severely dehydrated and as a result in mild shock. Paul was badly concussed and in serve shock. I know we were there for about a week. The time period between the crash and their discovery could be anything." He shook his head. "Sorry sir."

White nodded, regarding the man cautiously.

"You did everything you could Captain Black."

He then dismissed them.

"Perfectly reasonable explanation." Captain Magenta remarked, gathering up his papers. Captain Blue nodded.

"Then why don't I believe a word of it?"

* * *

Nurse Cherry fought the desire to groan. She had been on Skybase for nearly 2 weeks and this was the first time she had entered the observation lounge.

Nurse Bronze had all but dragged her here, after discovering that most of her free time was spent investigating the methods of tracing drugs. Despite her arguments that on Mars this was the norm, she knew it was peculiar, but she couldn't explain why she was avoiding the lounge like the plague, especially as the reason for her reluctance was standing only a few yards away.

"Captain Ochre, and this," Nurse Bronze was coming to the end of his introductions, though she'd hardly heard a word. "Is Captain Magenta. Skybase's resident heartbreaker."  
"I thought that was Captain Scarlet or Blue." She forced herself to say, smiling as she held out her hand.

Bronze shrugged. "While the cat's away, the mice will play."  
"Indeed." She replied, astonished at how normal her voice sounded. "It's nice to meet you, Captain."

She could only pray he'd take the hint, as Bronze dragged her off to introduce her to Captain Blue and Lieutenant Green who just entered.

The last time she'd met this many people so fast had been in Fresher's week at University, and she couldn't honestly remember any of the people she'd met then. She could only hope her memory had improved.

* * *

Dr Gold had run every test he knew, and a few he'd invented. All he could find was the concussion and shock. There was medically no explanation for what had happened on the Mars Base, and frankly if it wasn't for Conrad's injuries, he'd be inclined to believe they imagined it.

He glanced down at his sleeping patient.

Physically he'd be well enough to leave the infirmary in a couple of days. Mentally it was another story. Paul was a wreck, partly from the shock, but mostly, Dr Gold suspected, from something else. Whatever it was, he was either refusing to communicate it to anyone or he genuinely didn't know.

He sighed deeply, and turned at the rush of air as the door opened. Nurse Cherry stood there, evidently highly embarrassed.

"Don't tell Bronze, I'm here." She pleaded. He agreed and watched her vanish back to her terminal.

Now there was another one who was hiding something.

He glanced at the back of his nurse, and the sleeping face of his patient.

"When ever you're ready to talk my friend." He muttered. "I will listen." And he wasn't sure which one he was talking to.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3 Ruby red as blood

Author's note. Sorry this chapter is so short, I did honestly try to make it longer, but the plot bunnies wouldn't let me. Hope you enjoy this, nice reviews make me write faster.

Chapter 3

Destiny lay comfortably on Conrad's chest, in that pleasant state between waking and sleeping. He idly stroked her hair, his eyes fixed on the ceiling, and something only he could see.

* * *

Captain Scarlet tossed and turned on the bed in sickbay. Images, horrific images of an alien city laid to waste kept rising from the pit of his mind. Suddenly he got to his feet.

* * *

Elizabeth sat quietly on the couch in the observation lounge enjoying the view. It was, she was the first to point out, not as dramatic as the sky from Mars, but it was more colourful.

She was also enjoying a few moments to herself. Honestly since she had arrived here, it felt like Bronze had always been dragging her off to introduce her to someone, or show her some part of Skybase. As if being on Mars for nearly a year destroyed you're social skills.

But he was on shift at the moment, and the lounge was deserted. Captain Blue had been in for a few minutes early, but he had wander up to Command Control, to talk with Lieutenant Green a few minutes ago.

The doors opened, and she inwardly groaned, hunching down in her seat, praying he wouldn't see her. But…

"Hey." No such luck. She straightened up and gazed into his grey eyes.

"Good evening Captain Magenta." She knew as soon as the words left her mouth that they were a mistake. He smiled and walked over and retrieved a cup of coffee; Black no sugar, same as always, made his way to sink down opposite her.  
"So…" he said, drawing out the word. "Is this way we're going to play it Ruby? Pretend we don't know each other?"

Any other male would be annoyed, but his eyes register only amusement. It was like a knife to the chest.

"We don't know each other, Mario! We used to, but that was a life time ago. And it's Elizabeth!" the last is defiant, to counteract the wistfulness of the last part.

"o.k. o.k." he holds his hands up and she had to fight to keep herself from apologising.

No! Don't go there. Not again.

"You've done well for yourself, Elizabeta." He pronounced it the Italian way, and she has to fight not to tell him not to call her that.

"I've worked hard!" she replied defensively, then as a peace offering. "You haven't done too badly yourself."

He nods acknowledging the peace.

What either of them would have said next, how it would have played out, they never knew. Because at that second, Skybase pitched violently to the left.

tbc


End file.
